Guest post: Astig Vegan with vegan kaldereta (vegan food fridays)

Just want to let you guys know about summing, I am planning on having a guest post on my blog on the last friday of each month, more specifically the guest posts will be a recipe that you guys can cook for a group of friends, like a big pot o’ something or some cute lil’ appetizer, something to share, etc. I am hoping that maybe I can get you peeps to start cooking vegan food for people who maybe don’t have much experience of it (if you don’t already do this) and you can use these guest posts as a resource for entertaining. I am going to call this “Vegan Food Fridays”. Why am I trying to pester you lovely people? Because I believe strongly in culinary activism (yes it is a real thing!), if you have any tips/recipes you want to be part off vegan food Fridays you can submit them via this twitter page here. Anything from a cocktail too an edible party favour or, well anything you’d have at a get together (all vegan of course!). You can also message it too me via Facebook here. enough about the not so technical, technicality’s- lets get on with the first recipe!

I really, REALLY, love this blog, I find Filipino food really interesting I’ve tried to ask my step mum about Filipino food but she’s no cook, sadly my experiences of Filipino food have been quite limited, so it awesome that there such a good resource for Filipino recipes online. If your new to Filipino food go check out the Astig Vegan page! Here is an awesome recipe from the site to wet your appetite with a lil’ info about the dish from the sites owners:

VEGAN KALDERETA:

Kaldereta, a spicy, hearty Filipino dish. Kaldereta could be seen served at Filipino special occasions and restaurants, most likely because most Filipinos find it such a treat, plus it’s quite laborious to make because it takes a while to tenderize the meat. Good thing the vegan version cuts the cooking time in half. Kaldereta is best enjoyed with a bowl of rice so the stew is cooked slightly more savory and salty, basically, it’s meant to be eaten with a side dish.

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium pot, sauté the garlic with oil until fragrant.
2. Add the onions and tomatoes.
3. After sautéing for about 5 minutes, add the bell pepper, potatoes, tomato sauce, and vegetable broth or bouillon. Cover and simmer over medium heat until the potatoes are tender. Mix occasionally so the bottom sauce won’t stick to the pot.
4. Mix in the vegan cheddar cheese until it’s completely melted.
5. Pour the mushroom puree, soy sauce, broth from the olives, and sweet relish. Mix well and add the red salt, hot chili pepper and Bay leaves.
6. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Adjust to taste. Keep in mind this would be eaten with rice so it’s okay if it’s more to the savory-salty side. However, if you want it less salty, you may add more tomato sauce.
7. Add the carrots, fried tofu (or Seitan), Enoki mushrooms, and green olives. Simmer for another 5-10 minutes or until boiling. Turn off the heat.
8. Sprinkle Black Truffle Salt before serving.
9. Serve with a side of warm rice. Enjoy!

This is a great idea and I wholeheartedly agree with activism via the belly (especially if you are a good cook…it always helps 😉 ). People are a whole lot less scared of something if you just serve it up to them and it tastes great. Here in Australia we embrace a very multicultural lifestyle with lots of nationalities injecting their cuisines into our own and we tend to be quite adventurous with what we put into our bellies. Cheers for the Filipino take on Veggie grub and I am already following Astig Vegan, found her all by myself the other day ;).